USL Weekend Recap

By Rowdies Communications, 10/09/17, 3:30PM EDT

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (October 9, 2017) — With one week remaining in the USL regular season, the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference remains a bit cloudy. The Tampa Bay Rowdies will finish somewhere between second and fifth place depending on results this week and weekend.

For a full wrap on the most important storylines this weekend around the USL, click here.

Here’s a look at how the Eastern Conference matches we highlights in our preview last week ended up.

San Antonio FC 1 – 1 Tampa Bay Rowdies
Toyota Field, San Antonio, Texas
Tampa Bay nearly pulled off a big road win in a tough Western Conference environment after Georgi Hristov scored his 50th goal for the Rowdies in the 69th minute, but a late San Antonio FC equalizer saw the teams split the points. If the Rowdies win their season finale in Orlando on Thursday and Charleston fails to beat Charlotte on Saturday, that should be enough for the Rowdies to finish second.

Charleston Battery 4 – 0 Harrisburg City Islanders
MUSC Health Stadium, Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston moved ahead of the Rowdies into second place with a lopsided win over Harrisburg. Heviel Cordoves scored twice to lead the Battery to a win, setting up a big match in Charlotte against the Independence on Saturday night.

Pittsburgh Riverhounds 0 – 2 Rochester Rhinos
Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Rochester scored twice in the first 14 minutes to ease to a road win in Pittsburgh, keeping things interesting near the top of the Eastern Conference table. The Rhinos can move even on points (and the first tiebreaker, league wins) with the Rowdies win a home over Bethlehem on Tuesday, but Tampa Bay currently has a six-goal advantage in the second tiebreak, goal difference. Rochester then hosts Red Bulls II on Saturday.

Louisville City FC 3 – 1 Charlotte Independence
Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville continued its dominance at the top of the table with another comfortable home win. Charlotte has now lost four-consecutive matches and is winless in five. The Independence’s haul of just one point from the last 15 available is tied for worst in the entire USL. Tampa Bay will hope Charlotte ends its poor run of form this weekend though when it hosts Charleston.